Top Line
With most businesses now moving into the hybrid mode of working, whether working from home or office, internet connectivity needs to be at its best. A recent study by Surfshark reveals that South Africa has the best internet in all of Africa, although globally, it only ranks 66.
Key Facts
The 2022 Digital Quality of Life (DQL) Index, a study on the quality of digital wellbeing across 117 countries (92% of the global population), found that South Africa’s internet quality remains the best in Africa.
Following suit in Africa:
-68 Globally| 2 in Africa– Mauritius
-71 Globally| 3 in Africa– Morocco
-77 Globally| 4 in Africa– Tunisia
-78 Globally| 5 in Africa– Kenya
-85 Globally| 6 in Africa- Egypt
-86 Globally| 7 in Africa– Nigeria
-88 Globally| 8 in Africa– Ghana
-92 Globally| 9 In Africa– Algeria
-95 Globally| 10 In Africa– Senegal
The study indexes each country according to five pillars that impact a population’s overall digital quality of life; internet affordability, internet quality, electronic infrastructure electronic security, and electronic government.
Globally, according to the index, comparing countries included in last year’s index, people have to work slightly more (six minutes) to afford fixed broadband internet in 2022. While mobile internet is more affordable this year, people have to work just under two minutes, less than they did in 2021. The same trend was observed last year.
The country with the best internet in the world is Israel, with these countries following suit in the top 10:
1. Israel
2. Denmark
3. Germany
4. France
5. Sweden
6. the Netherlands
7. Finland
8. Japan
9. Great Britain
10. Korea
Tangent
It is interesting that despite South Africa’s constant issues with loadshedding, now currently on Stage 2, the country occupies the top spot in Africa. With intermittent power outages, connectivity takes time and internet speeds are low.
Furthermore, this index is telling as, according to Business Insider, internet access in South Africa is only slightly more affordable than in Kazakhstan, Russia and Finland but mobile internet access has become more affordable over the past year, and the cost of broadband internet has risen substantially by global standards.
“People who can’t access the internet are cut off from the digital opportunities that people from higher-income countries have. Without internet access, people can’t study or work online, and they can’t grow their economy with digital exports,” said Surfshark’s Lead Researcher Agneska Sablovskaja. “The internet is also very slow in many African countries. Even if people can afford the internet, they still face limitations in what they can do. For instance, low internet speeds often make it very difficult to make video calls.”